30 January 2019

An occasional series
highlighting some of our holdings at the Library in Oakland. For a fuller
listing of our books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog. Our
catalog is also included in WorldCat.

"George Washington Resigning His Commission"
from Tidewater Maryland

The CGS Library has ten and a half shelves of material on the State of Maryland plus a few books devoted to the District of Columbia. This section starts with four sets of journals including:

·Maryland
Historical Magazine 1973 – 1989

·Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin 1969 – 2008

·Maryland Genealogical Journal 2008 – present, and

·Maryland & Delaware Genealogist 1959 – 1990.

The first set of books I looked at was the Maryland Account Book series, a vast collection of probate records compiled by Annie Walker Burns and indexed by Margaret Griffith. We hold volumes 1-3 and 15-27. What impressed me about these books is that each appears to have been typed by Annie. Our set looks like a carbon copy (some of our younger members may need to look that up to understand the significance. When I learned to type I used carbon paper on occasion).

Next to pique my interest was Old Maryland Families, a 5-by-7-inch book in landscape mode, which is unusual but made sense for this text because it consists of family trees. Described as “A Collection of Charts Compiled from Public Records, Wills, Family Bibles, Tomb Inscriptions, and Other Original Sources,” it was written by Henrietta E. Bromwell and published in 1916. What is exceptional about these family trees is that they capture not just important dates but present a succinct narrative for each person on the tree.

The family trees in Old Maryland Families include short narratives on each entry

White Maryland Runaways is a book you may not wish to find your ancestor in. Author Joseph Lee Boyle has compiled a vast collection of news clippings and historical information about white Europeans who came to the United States in colonial times as indentured servants, political exiles, or convicts. We have two volumes of White Maryland Runaways: "When Drunk is Very Bold" (published 2011) spans the period 1763-1769, and "Drinks Hard, and Swears Much" (published 2010) covers the years 1770-1774.

The leather cover on The Founders ofMaryland feels good

There are sixteen volumes of Maryland Calendar of Wills. Volume One covers the period 1635 to 1685 and was published in 1904. Anyone who has struggled through attempting to transcribe an old will would appreciate this volume. It presents the salient information from each original document in a clear and succinct narrative and uses bold and large point sizes to help the reader quickly glean the essence of each will.

The oldest Maryland book I found was The Founders of Maryland by Rev. Edward Neill, published in 1876. This book is bound in real leather and its feel reminded me of my confirmation prayer book. The preface explains that “the object of this little book, is to state facts, which had become obscured or forgotten, concerning the first European settlers on the shores of the Potomac River, and Chesapeake Bay.” I would like to find an ancestor mentioned in this book but that's unlikely in my case.

One last book for Maryland is Tidewater Maryland by Paul Wilstach, first published in 1931. What is unique about this book is that every right-hand page has a different headline. Each topic is provocative. For example, page 113 is headed “Head of Elk”; p. 123, “A Bully and A Terror”; p. 127, “A Fairy Queen”; p. 133, “Cradle of the Episcopal Church.” I’ve never seen this in any other book.

The pleasure of seeing, feeling, and smelling these old treasures is a joy. I dread the day when all of this will be digitized and obscured by a slick computer monitor. You should plan a trip to our library and savor the experience.

23 January 2019

An occasional series
highlighting some of our holdings at the Library in Oakland. For a fuller
listing of our books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog. Our
catalog is also included in WorldCat.

Our material on the State of Maine occupies shelves F16 – F30 and includes six boxes of Maine Genealogical covering the years 1995 to the current issue. We have an 1881 Gazetteer of the State of Maine With Numerous Illustrations by George J. Varney. It professes to mention “every town, plantation, mountain, lake and bay … of the several counties, cities, towns and villages of the State.”

Another book we have from the same era is History of Cumberland Co., Maine: with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers by W. W. Clayton, published in 1880. One of the things that distinguishes this book is that it includes several images of women – not just men. I particularly like how the author grouped portraits of a couple with a rendering of their home and property.

Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Brown, fromHistory of Cumberland County

Maine is also noteworthy for having a county named after a woman – Jenny Wiley County. We have two thick volumes about that county on our shelves. (The “D” on the binding reminds us that these were from the Dorman Collection.)

Many Maine books have a conifer on
the binding

I noticed that more than one book in our Maine collection depicts a coniferous tree on the bound edge. I wondered about this until I came to Maine: The Pine Tree State from Prehistory to the Present. This 1995 text was edited by Richard W. Judd, Edwin A. Churchill, and Joel W. Eastman.

If you happen to be researching York County, Maine, you are in luck! The CGS library has 19 volumes of deeds. Anyone who has done research with deeds, you will recall how not infrequently handwritten notes are written at ninety degrees to the body of the text. In this transcription, such notes have been dutifully transcribed in the same manner.

Finally, I looked at Pioneers on Maine Rivers with Lists to 1651, compiled from the original sources by Wilbur D. Spencer and published in 1930. This hardback lists each of Maine's rivers and the communities that developed along its banks. For example, the Piscataqua River has twelve subheadings. The introduction includes the following anonymous poem, which sets the stage for the book.

19 January 2019

We had a large and enthusiastic gathering at our annual membership meeting, held Saturday, January 12, at the library. President Vicky Kolakowski welcomed members and gave a brief overview of CGS' many achievements over the past year. Special acknowledgment of and thanks went out to Maureen Hanlon (Events chair) and Kathie Jones (treasurer), who are stepping down from the board after several years of dedicated service.

Continuing on the board are Nancy Cork, Marisela Meskus, Chris Pattillo, Jim Russell, Vicky Kolakowski, Stewart Blandon Traiman, Felicia Addison, Rich Kehoe, Arlene Miles, and Linda Okazaki. The membership approved a slate of new board members which includes the return of past board members Jeff Vaillant and Jim Sorenson and the appointment of longtime CGS volunteer Matt Berry as treasurer. Other new board members are Stacy Hoover and Jennifer Dix. You can read more about all the board members on our website.

Jane Lindsey and Chris Pattillo were featured speakers.

Membership also approved the proposed 2019 budget, heard about the society's new strategic plan, and got a preview of upcoming classes and events. Following the business meeting, Chris Pattillo and Jane Lindsey gave two short talks. Chris described how research led her to make contact with a distant cousin in Germany, while Jane shared the breakthroughs that can be achieved by making "just one phone call."

16 January 2019

The embossed and colored cover of the
Historical Encyclopedia of Louisiana is
one of the most impressive in our library

An occasional series
highlighting some of our holdings at the Library in Oakland. For a fuller
listing of our books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog. Our
catalog is also included in WorldCat.

The CGS library section for the state of Louisiana occupies three
full shelves and includes fourteen boxes of journals that cover the entire
state; one box for St. Landry County; and three boxes for New Orleans. The
largest set of journals – the Louisiana
Genealogical Register – covers the period 1969 to 2018, so it is very
comprehensive.

Our collection includes three volumes of census records each
quite thick and packed with data. The title Love,
Honor and Betrayal caught my eye. It covers the period 1778–1784, was
published in 1964, and was compiled by Elizabeth Becker Gianelloni of Longwood
Plantation, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The book’s foreword sets the
stage nicely for what lies within: “Ragged bundles of papers in forgotten
drawers and dusty volumes from dark shelves recount in flowing French and
courtly Spanish phrase authentic stories of that robust aggregation who were
the colonial settlers in the Province of Louisiana. Happily, each year now sees
some small progress in exhuming these records and recreating the days and ways
of the humble as well as the famous among them.” On page 3 there is a
record dated 16 November 1778 titled “Breach of Promise,” where we learn that
“Margarita has been placed in the Convent of the Ursulines in New Orleans by
her husband,” and that her father, Antoinne Marmillion petitions for her
release. What other gems might be found
within these pages?

The Historical Encyclopedia is also richly
illustrated on the inside

The cover of The
Historical Encyclopedia of Louisiana edited by Ellis Arthur Davis is
exceptional – brown leather with embossed and multi-colored images from the
state including the capitol building, a river boat and more. The forward of
this book tells us that “The history of Louisiana is as romantic and colorful
as that of any State in the Union.” It goes on to explain, “This work is
thoroughly illustrated with appropriate pictures showing the History as well as
the progress and attractions, with panoramic views, street scenes, public
buildings, parks, and views depicting Louisiana industries.”

A must-have reference for anyone doing
research in Louisiana

One of the more recent books in this group is A Guide to Genealogical Research at the
Louisiana State Archives by Judy Riffel, published in 2008. This is a guide
book to resources available at the state archives. It
appears to be a must-have reference for doing research. The book covers all
types of records, in twelve chapters and five appendices.

On a lighter note, we also have Ancestor Hunting, a compilation of six years of Shreveport
Journal newspaper
columns written by Mildred deWeir Smith Watkins from 1963 to 1969. Mildred was quite prolific; the book runs to 847 pages, with an index.

Next time you’re in downtown Oakland you might want to come
into the library and see what you can find on Louisiana.

09 January 2019

An occasional series
highlighting some of our holdings at the Library in Oakland. For a fuller
listing of our books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog. Our
catalog is also included in WorldCat.

Anyone who happened to be in the library the day I was doing
my research for this post would have heard my exclamations as I scanned our
shelves looking for the start and end points of our Kentucky books. It just
kept going, and going, and going. In total there are 17 shelf lengths of books
and journals for Kentucky – who woulda’ thought we’d have such an extensive assemblage
for this southern state? It made me think that we should approach the Oakland
Visitors Bureau and suggest that they promote our library to entice tourists
from every state in the nation.

There are sixteen boxes of The Filson Club Historical Quarterly journals from 1936 to 2002. The cover of volume 76 from the Winter of 2002 features a
photo of Robert Kennedy. Within is an article that also discusses his father, Joseph
Kennedy. The same issue has an article about Joe McCarthy - but not the
one you might first think of. This article, "Colonia Cousins," is about Joe McCarthy and Izzy Goodman – two notable
Kentucky sports figures.

The Filson Historical Society has a large photo
collection

We also have a Guide to
Selected Manuscript and Photographic Collections of The Filson Club Historical
Society. The introduction of this source book tells us that the Filson Club
has been collecting manuscripts since soon after its founding in 1884, and that
it has amassed “a large and important collection of historical manuscripts.”
They claim to “possess the finest collection of pioneer, antebellum, and Civil
War manuscripts in Kentucky.” They also have information on women’s studies and
African Americans.

Stockading Up offers comprehensive
information about Kentucky's frontier
defense system

What stands out on our Kentucky shelves are 57
volumes of the Register of Kentucky State
Historical Society starting with volume one in 1903 and continuing right up
to 2018. It is an impressive mostly hard-cover collection.

The last book I looked at was Stockading Up: A Study of Pioneer Stations
in the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky by Nancy O’Malley. This is an archaeological report published in 1987. It appears to be an exhaustive study
of frontier defense sites, organized by county. In Bourbon County alone there
were eighteen stations that are described in the book. Many of the stations
include a topographical map. For anyone with Kentucky ancestors this could be a
valuable source book.